Paul Ryan pics spark dumbbell debate

Paul Ryan has a body by P90X, and he agreed to show it off to TIME Magazine. But not everyone’s pumped up about the pics.

In a photo series taken in December 2011, Ryan is shown lifting dumbbells while wearing a red baseball cap backward and elaborate ear buds. The photos appear in this week’s issue alongside a profile of the GOP vice presidential nominee, whose devotion to the P90X workout is well-documented. (Before being named Mitt Romney’s running mate, Ryan ran a daily P90X workout in the House of Representatives gym.)

The photos were posted online Thursday morning, and it didn’t take long for the snark to start. Gawker preemptively declared him the loser of Thursday’s vice presidential debate. A Philadelphia magazine writer said Ryan looks like “a mix of Screech and A.C. Slater to be exact. I mean, really, what’s with the backwards red baseball cap?” And New York Magazine quipped, ” It’s like the mimbo from Seinfeld is running for vice president.”

Even The Blaze, Glenn Beck’s conservative news site, conceded the photos were “unflattering,” while also attacking TIME for publishing them hours before the vice presidential debate.

Other conservatives thought the photos would give their candidate an edge at tonight’s debate in Kentucky. “Well, at least we know Paul Ryan won’t be outgunned tonight,” the Weekly Standard’s Mark Hemingway tweeted, adding: “#heyohh!” And the proprietors of the Tumblr “Hey Girl, It’s Paul Ryan” have added two entries based on the new photos.